In a statement today, Thursday, the spokesman of the group, Ibrahim Musa reminded Osinbajo that Zakzaky and his wife have been in illegal detention for over a year without charges in flagrant contempt of court judgement that ordered their release.
“We highly welcome his recent speech at the two-day Eko Stakeholders summit, in which he reportedly chided the Nigerian Police Force and judges for “keeping suspects in custody longer than is legally permissible without trial.”
The group said that its members considered it unfortunate that a government that has a person of the caliber of Yemi Osinbajo, “a holder of the prestigious title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) as Vice president, will be making contempt of various courts with impunity its hallmark.
“However, now as the acting President, we expect him to toe a different line altogether in this regard by promptly obeying court orders in relation to Sheikh Zakzaky and the Zaria massacre. It is in that light we cautiously welcome his words at the Summit, that “If we can agree that these problems are against our collective interests as practitioners and stakeholders, then we must make a firm commitment to tackle the problems by changing our attitude and standing up for what is right.”
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria believed that charity should begin at home and that if the Vice President and the Attorney-General of the Federation, who represented him at the summit, being both Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) wanted the world to take them serious on what they themselves acknowledged as a breach of constitutional laws, then they should start by obeying the legitimate orders of the courts by releasing the Sheikh, who was earlier set free by a federal high court judge. [myad]
